How to set up an Instagram comment auto DM

An Instagram comment auto DM is a rule that watches one of your posts, and when someone comments a keyword like LINK, sends them a direct message with your link and (optionally) replies under their comment so they know to check their inbox. In big you set it up from a ready-made template: connect your Instagram account, pick the post, set the keyword, write the DM, and switch it on. The whole thing takes a few minutes, and you can test it from a second account straight away.

What you need

• A professional Instagram account, Business or Creator. A Personal account won't connect, but you can switch it in the Instagram app. You sign in with Instagram directly, so you don't need a linked Facebook Page. See Connect your Instagram account.
• The editor role or higher in your big workspace, which is what it takes to create an automation.
• A post or reel you want to attach the automation to, and the link you want to send.
• A second Instagram account for testing. Instagram won't deliver an automated DM from your account to itself.

Step 1: Connect Instagram

In big, click Connect Instagram, sign in with the account you want to automate, and approve the permissions. big asks to read your profile and posts, read and reply to comments, and send messages. It can't post to your feed, follow accounts, or change your profile. When you land back in big, the account shows as Connected.

If it fails, the usual cause is a Personal account or finishing the approval in a different browser from the one you started in. The connection guide lists the rest.

Step 2: Start from the comment template

Click New automation. Instead of a blank canvas you get the template library, and the one you want is Comment a word → DM your link. It opens on the canvas with three pieces already wired together:

1. A comment trigger on the keyword LINK.
2. A Reply to comment step that answers publicly under the comment.
3. A Send a DM step with a placeholder link.

It opens paused, so nothing sends while you edit. If you'd rather build from nothing, Start from scratch gives you just the trigger card; the first-automation walkthrough covers both routes.

Step 3: Bind the post and set the keyword

The trigger card says No post bound. Click it and pick the post or reel to watch. The automation won't save without one. If a new post isn't in the list yet, open the Posts tab, which refreshes your posts from Instagram.

Then set the keyword. Comment matching works differently from DM matching, and it's worth knowing exactly how:

• Whole word, anywhere in the comment. LINK fires on "LINK", "send me the link please" and "Link?", but not on "linktree" or "blinking".
• Case doesn't matter unless you turn on the trigger's Case sensitive setting.
• You can add several keywords as a comma-separated list, and any one of them fires the trigger.
• A comment trigger always needs a keyword. There is no catch-all for comments.

Pick a short, distinctive word so ordinary chatter under your post doesn't set it off. Triggers has the full matching rules.

One more rule: a post can have only one active comment automation at a time. If another active automation already watches it, saving fails until you switch that one off.

Step 4: Write the reply and the DM

Edit the public reply first. Something short that tells the person to look in their DMs is enough.

Then replace the placeholder link in the Send a DM step with yours. Keep the message plain. A comment automation sends text only: tappable choices and buttons are drawn struck through on the canvas and never sent. That's why the template is just two steps, a reply and one DM. If you want a menu or a follow-first gate, use a DM-triggered automation instead and point your caption at the keyword people should message you.

Step 5: Switch it on and save

Turn the automation on at the top of the canvas and press Save. From that moment it watches the post, and it starts counting toward your plan's active-automation limit. A paused automation doesn't count.

Check it worked

From your second Instagram account, comment the keyword on the post. Within a few moments you should see the public reply appear under the comment and the DM arrive in the test account's inbox.

If you want to test again, use a different account or wait a day. Each account can trigger a given automation only once every 24 hours, so a second comment from the same test account is skipped on purpose. That cooldown is the most common reason people think a working automation is broken.

If it does not work

Most failures come down to a few causes, roughly in this order:

• It's not switched on. A paused automation never fires. Open it and confirm it's active.
• The keyword didn't match. Re-read the comment you tested with against the whole-word rule above. "LINKS" is a different word from "LINK".
• You tested from your own account, or twice from the same one. Use a separate account, and remember the 24-hour cooldown.
• The messaging window closed. A DM triggered by a comment can only be sent within 7 days of that comment. If the send was held up past that, the run is marked expired and big stops trying. The 24-hour window explains both windows.
• You hit your plan's weekly cap. New conversations stop starting until the week resets, while ones already in progress finish.

Why didn't my automation fire? walks through every cause in order, including the connection needing to be reconnected and contacts you've excluded from automations.

Where to go next

Once the comment version works, read about the Instagram 24-hour messaging window so you know which replies can still go out days later. If you want people to answer a question before they get the link, branches let a DM automation route each person down a different path.